The influence of personality on importance of startup attributes

The results from the BFI was used to examine respondents' personality traits. For a presentation of personality results see Appendix 2. The respondents were placed in different personality trait groups based on their personality trait scores. Within each personality trait, the respondents were placed in the category low, average or high. An overview of the personality groups is shown in Table 4. in section 4.6.2.

To investigate whether the big five personality traits influence the attractiveness of the nine startup attributes, we can compare the importance scores in the different personality trait groups.

Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted to compare the mean ranks of each attribute for each personality trait group and the full result is shown in Appendix 7. The following sections focus on the significant results which indicates the strong correlations between personality traits and importance of startup attributes. The full results can be seen in Appendix 6. and 7.

54 5.5.1. The influence of Openness

The findings for Openness indicates that Team climate is the most important attribute for people regardless of their Openness trait score. The trait does not alter the ranking of the least and second to least important attribute either. Entrepreneurial knowledge building is ranked second to last and Company shares is ranked last in all Openness trait groups. The ranking of the remaining attributes is however influenced by the trait.

The findings show that people in the Low Openness trait group place significantly lower importance on Leadership functions than people in the average (p=.020) or high (p=.032) Openness trait group. They place lower importance on Entrepreneurial knowledge building than people in the average (p=.017) or high (p=.000) Openness trait group, and higher importance on Flexibility of working schedule (p=.036) than people in the Average Openness trait group.

People in the Average Openness trait group place significantly lower importance on Entrepreneurial knowledge building (p=.022) than people in the High Openness trait group.

Figure 9. shows which startup attributes are influenced by the Openness trait.

This indicates that people who score high on the openness trait place significantly more importance on entrepreneurial knowledge building and leadership functions. People who score low, place more importance on flexibility of working schedule.

Figure 9: The startup attributes influenced by Openness

5.5.2. The influence of Conscientiousness

The findings for Conscientiousness indicates that Team climate is the most important attribute and that Company shares is the least important attribute, regardless of Conscientiousness trait score. The ranking of the remaining attributes is however influenced by the trait.

The findings show that people in the Low Conscientiousness trait group place higher importance on Entrepreneurial knowledge building than people with an average (p=.001) or

Leadership functions

Entrepreneurial knowledge building Flexibility of working schedule Openness

55 high (p=.010) Conscientiousness trait score, but lower importance on Hierarchy (p=.019) and Responsibility and empowerment (p=.036) than people with a high score. People in the Average Conscientiousness trait group place significantly lower importance on Hierarchy (p=.002), but higher importance on Team climate (p=.041), than people in the High Conscientiousness trait group. Figure 10. shows which startup attributes are influenced by the conscientiousness trait.

This indicates that people with a high conscientiousness trait score place more importance on responsibility and empowerment, and hierarchy, but lower importance on team climate and entrepreneurial knowledge building.

Figure 10: The startup attributes influenced by Conscientiousness

5.5.3. The influence of Extraversion

The findings for Extraversion reveal that on average, Team climate ranks first, while Leadership functions, Entrepreneurial knowledge building and Company shares are at the other end of the scare, regardless of Extraversion trait score.

The findings show that people in the Low Extraversion group place significantly higher importance on Learning curve (p=.041) than people in the Average Extraversion trait group, and that people in the Average Extraversion group place significantly lower importance on Learning curve (p=.045) than people in the High Extraversion trait group. This indicates that people who score average on extraversion place less importance on learning curve, then people with a low or high score. Figure 11. shows which startup attributes are influenced by the extraversion trait.

Figure 11: The startup attributes influenced by Extraversion Conscientiousness

Entrepreneurial knowledge building Hierarchy

Responsibility and empowerment Team climate

Extraversion Learning curve

56 5.5.4. The influence of Agreeableness

The findings for Agreeableness indicates that Team climate is ranked first and is most important, that Entrepreneurial knowledge building is ranked second to last and that Company shares is ranked last and is therefore the least important attribute, regardless of Agreeableness trait score.

The findings show that people in the Average Agreeableness trait group, place significantly higher importance on Entrepreneurial knowledge building (p=.026) than people in the High Agreeableness trait group. People in the High Agreeableness trait group place significantly less importance on Flexibility of working schedule (p=.031), and Entrepreneurial knowledge building (p=.007), but more importance on Learning curve (p=.003) and Team climate (p=.023) than people in the Low Agreeableness trait group. Figure 12. shows which startup attributes are influenced by the agreeableness trait.

The findings indicate that people who score high on agreeableness place less importance on entrepreneurial knowledge building and flexibility of working schedule, but more importance on learning curve and team climate.

Figure 12: The startup attributes influenced by Agreeableness

5.5.5. The influence of Neuroticism

The findings for Neuroticism reveal that, on average, Team climate is the most important attribute, regardless of the personality trait. Neuroticism does not influence the ranking of Entrepreneurial knowledge building or Company shares either, which in is ranked second to last and last in all groups.

The findings show a difference between people in the Low Neuroticism trait group and the High Neuroticism trait group in relation to Learning curve and Team climate. The results indicate that people who score high on neuroticism place significantly lower importance on learning curve (p=.002) and significantly higher importance on team climate (p=.011), than people who

Agreeableness

Entrepreneurial knowledge building Flexibility of working schedule

Learning curve Team climate

57 have a low score. Figure 13. shows which job attributes are influenced by the neuroticism trait.

Figure 13: The startup attributes influenced by Neuroticism